Welcome

“When one completely renounces all the desires entertained by the mind, satisfied in the self, by the self, one is called a person of steady wisdom.” Bhagavad Gita, Ch.2,V.55.

Welcome to Steady Wisdom, a site dedicated to the teachings of traditional Vedanta, offering a valid means of knowledge, that removes ignorance, revealing the non-dual nature of reality. Vedanta is a complete teaching that provides knowledge of: 1)The self – awareness/consciousness/brahman, 2)Maya, a power within awareness that gives rise to Isvara, the creator of the dhamric field, 3) The jagat or creation, and 4) The jiva (embodied soul). While the yogas (karma, bhakti, triguna vibhava and meditation) are vital in preparing the mind, it is through jnana or knowledge of self that liberation is obtained.

Vedanta is neither channeled information, nor invented by humans, but is revealed knowledge. Think of gravity, Newton didn’t invent gravity, it has always been here. One day when the moment was ripe, the knowledge of gravity was assimilated. Vedanta has been revealed to the sattvic (pure) minds of Rishis (ascetic seers) and sages and refined over thousands of years. Vedanta as taught by people like Ramji (James Swartz) and Swami Paramarthananda, in the lineage Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Chinmayananda, back to Adi Shankara, is a very systematic path of knowledge that dissolves ignorance, revealing the true nature of self as non-dual, limitless, pure and ordinary awareness.

The Vedanta methodology begins with the teaching that lasting happiness can not be found in limited objects or experience. Yet we spend great time and energy chasing illusive carrots. Happiness, or better yet contentment, is our nature and when we seek it outside ourselves, we actually obscure it. The teachings then continue in a logical manner, with a scientific precision that confronts ignorance at its roots, and when the time is right, the radiance of true self that has always been present, shines forth.

Vedanta has three primary source texts, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras. There are also many important subsidiary texts by authors such as Adi Shankara from the 8th century and Sri Vidyaranya from the 14th century. What sets traditional Vedanta apart from other teachings of enlightenment: 1) The qualifications for enlightenment, a readiness check list and practices in their own right, 2) A discussion of values and qualities found in seekers of the truth, 3) A detailed explanation not just of awareness itself but of the jiva (embodied soul), karma (action), the jagat (creation), Maya, the conditioning power which gives rise to Isvara the creator and creation itself, and 4) An exploration of several yogas (karma, jnana, and triguna vibhava) which reduce projection, denial and attachment and prepare the mind for understanding.

We all share in this non-dual light of consciousness and we each have unique karma and various levels of attachment to our conditioning. Moksha or freedom is the hard and fast knowledge that objects and experience, while sometimes painful and other times joyful, can never affect the luminous and unlimited, yet ordinary awareness that we are.

I share the information presented on this website as a passionate student of traditional Vedanta. The teachings continue to remove my ignorance and reveal the truth of my nature as sat-chit-ananda (existence, consciousness, and limitless-ness).

My deepest gratitude to the sampradaya (lineage) which includes my teachers on this ancient and beautiful pathless path called traditional Vedanta beginning with my final teacher Ramji (James Swartz) though I continue to receive great support from Swami Dayananda (deceased), Swami Paramarthananda, Ted Schmidt, Christian Leeby and others.